Kennett board bids farewell to 8-year member

Colleagues praise contributions of George P. Drake Jr.

Updated 6:13 p.m.: Clarifies Tomasetti’s comments on the Keystone Exams

By Kathleen Brady Shea, Managing Editor, The Times

Kennett School Board Members Heather Schaen (from left) and Douglas B. Stirling join Superintendent Barry Tomasetti in expressing gratitude to George P. Drake Jr., who was attending his final board meeting after eight years of service.

On Monday night at New Garden Elementary, the Kennett Consolidated School Board began its meeting with a tribute to colleagues’ service and ended it with praise for veterans’ service.

Superintendent Barry Tomasetti presented Board Member Heather Schaen, who was just reelected to another term, with a plaque for eight years of service, and he gave Board Member George P. Drake Jr. a farewell gift for his eight years of service, which included stints as board president, vice president, and curriculum chair.

Drake, who received a standing ovation, was attending his last board meeting. Schaen called him a “great role model” who consistently worked to make the district better. Board President Douglas B. Stirling said that his contributions were appreciated and that he left “big shoes to fill.”

After the meeting, Drake explained that he  decided not to run again because of other educational  commitments. He was elected to the board of directors of the Pennsylvania Association of Colleges and Teacher Educators (PAC-TE) to represent the 14 institutions in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education and was nominated to serve on the Pennsylvania Professional Standards and Practices Commission.

During public comment, resident Glen Simmonds said the clock is ticking on a decision by the state’s Independent Regulatory Review Commission (IRRC), which must sign off on the Common Core standards approved by the Pennsylvania Board of Education in September. The IRRC is scheduled to consider the plan Nov. 21, and Simmonds urged members of the board to voice their disapproval.

Simmonds said bipartisan opposition to the plan exists, evident by the fact that he, a Republican committeeman, has been working with Democratic State Sen. Andy Dinniman and some Tea Party members to request a delay of the plan, arguing that it amounts to an unfunded mandate. He said Dinniman has tried in vain to get information on what the standards will cost districts to implement.

Tomasetti said he met with Dinniman, Sen. Dominic Pileggi, and Rep. Chris Ross and declined to sign a letter endorsed by fifty-five school superintendents and the heads of four intermediate units in the region, who are seeking to apply brakes to the plan, which will require students to pass the Keystone Exams in order to graduate from high school.

“I do believe we need tests,” Tomasetti said, while noting that he had concerns about using the Keystone Exam as a graduation requirement.  In the absence of the PSSA, he said, which is being phased out for high school students, there would be no student evaluation testing without the Keystone Exam.

In other business, Board Member Dominic F. Perigo Jr., who chairs the Facilities and Operations Committee, shed light on an equipment issue. He said three lighting fixtures in front of the high school “haven’t worked for years” and had generated a $17,000 price tag for refurbishment.

Hoping for a less costly alternative, Perigo said district maintenance workers took the lights down and have received assistance from Robert S. Swanson Co., a family-owned electric motor sales and service center, that has polished the copper and brass, and Kennett Glass Co., which has replaced some of the glass. He said the fixtures could be back in place as soon as a few weeks from now. “We think they’re original to the school,” Perigo said.

Board Member Rudy Alfonso, a former Naval aviation officer, closed the meeting with praise for the nation’s veterans. “One day is not enough,” he said. He said he believes the country has a responsibility to ensure that veterans receive the resources they need to make the transition from military service, such as housing, job, and educational assistance.

Expanding on that theme, Alfonso said that he benefited from a college Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) program and would like Kennett High to consider a Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC) option. He said the program, which includes courses taught by retired military officers, emphasized citizenship, character, and community service.

Stirling suggested that the board gather more information about the program and discuss it again in January.